KBCZ first fundraising event was a huge success, more then 200 attended the Dance Party in March and they raised $4500 to help build the Radio stations infrastructure. They are still waiting for the FM license to be assigned to them by the FCC.

Their tech support guru Logan was able to configure the Internet stream and it soon will be live. They are now in the process of cataloging local music, interviews, and radio dramas for broadcast. This is going to be a large job because most local music is not in the Gracenote database, so all of this information is going to have to be labeled. Liner notes about local artist and other relevant information also needs to be added. They are currently in the process of getting a programming group together who can help with these tasks, so if you want to help contact KBCZ.

They also need more local music, so if you know musicians in the SLV or even Santa Cruz county who have good quality recordings, please ask them to deliver uncompressed CDs (no mp3s unless they are very high quality, ie 320kbps) to the station. They can drop them in the mail slot at the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin where they share space. They are also looking for other types of programming like radio plays, comedies, educational programs, and so on. It would be helpful if the artist could note any explicit tracks and include any liner note info they would like to share (ie. Boulder Creek harmonica player George Galt also plays with legendary guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson).

If your interests are in other areas like operations, fundraising, outreach, and so on they need volunteers in those areas as well. Other tasks include putting together the station guidelines, contacting people, putting together the community calendar for broadcast, etc. They also want to connect with the local schools.

The plan is to start pre-programming the automated software with content for broadcast on the Internet starting now and then, start adding live DJ’s, talk shows, etc. The radio station is primarily an educational format as designated by the FCC.

Another focus is to stream traffic and weather via an RSS feed so it is available on mobile devices. The plan is to have people text or call them from the road and let them know where trees are down, roads are closed, and so on. This will also stream on their website. Eventually, they will want someone to do live updates over the FM broadcast. This could be the DJ or someone else.

Progress is also being made on the production studio which will be in the back of Barry Tanner’s BC Music Works studio (the old post office behind The Odd Fellows Building). If you have interest in doing any kind of show, Sam Peacock will be getting together with people in the production studio to do an air-check (a short demo), again contact KBCZ.